He was sentenced at Oxfordshire Magistrates’ Court on 18 April to 8 weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay fines and compensation totalling £790.

On Tuesday 16 January, the victim, a Commonwealth Games hopeful, was travelling on board a Cross Country train service from Reading with a racing bike worth £2,700. The bike was stored in the dedicated cycle rack on board the train.

As the train arrived at Banbury station, Clarke then tampered with the cycle racks, removing the racing bike from the train. The victim then saw a male pushing the bike along the platform as the train pulled away from Banbury station.

After a thorough investigation by BTP officers, CCTV images were able to identify Clarke with the bike inside the station at the time of offence. Clarke was later questioned by officers and admitted to the offence and further admitted to selling the bike onwards for a fee of £80.

The victims bike is yet to be located. Anyone who has information regarding the whereabouts of the bike is asked to contact BTP by sending a text to 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40.